Hi, i have created a model in solidworks cosmos FloWorks andhave
tried to run a few simulations. they have taken about 6 hoursof
computation to complete 6 seconds of real time simulation, iwant to
have a simulation 3 hours long showing a breadmaker goingthough its
cycle of fermenting the dough and then baking it. Atthis speed it
will take 450 days! i think one of the reasons forthe slow
calculation is that the outer wall is less than 1mm thick(sheet
mild steel) and the baking pan is only 1mm thick (deep
drawnaluminum and these thin components are causing a very fine
mesh tobe generated and so lots of cells. Can anyone tell me if i
amcorrect in assuming this and offer any suggestions of ways
toreduce the calculation time even if the accuracy of the
simulationis compromised a bit (This is only for a university
project sointegrity of results is not as important as demonstrating
anunderstanding). thanks for reading, thanks for any help.

Can you take advantage of any symetry in the model? If the model is
symetric you can reduce the size of the computational domain and
apply symetry to its boundaries. I believe there is a tutorial that
uses symetry that explains how to use it.

To check if your mesh is too small you can show the mesh from
the results section in the floworks model tree. Visually inspect
the mesh and see if you have too many cells in areas that are not
very important to your analysis. If this is the case then you can
reduce the initial mesh settings by right clicking on "Input Data"
in the model tree and selecting "Initial Mesh...". A screen should
popup showing different mesh setttings. Near the bottom you can
uncheck the automatic settings to allow you more control over your
mesh. If you decrese the number of cells per x,y, and z then you
will have a corser mesh that should not take as long to calculate.
I believe that the initial mesh settings are based on the boundary
conditions. So if your boundary conditions are very small compared
to the computational area then your mesh could be much finer than
you need.

This could be detrimental to the accuracy of your analysis. To help
the accuracy you can add mesh controls and increase the partial
cell refinement. Also, for Floworks 2007, make sure that "Optimize
thin walls resolution" is selected.

Changing mesh setting can increase the amount of time and resources
required to mesh the model but it can help speed up the calculation
process.